


Haunting

by themoon



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, Ghosts, Haunted Houses, Imagination, Marriage Proposal, References to Supernatural (TV), Romance, Supernatural Elements, Teen Romance, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-04-04 08:04:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14015895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoon/pseuds/themoon
Summary: The story revolves around five teenagers who just wanted to have some fun. It was just a stupid game. Nothing could go wrong, right?





	1. Ignorance

**Author's Note:**

> It was just an innocent game. The movies were all joking, right? I guess that's what happens when you play with an Ouija board.

“Would someone buy me all those games please?”, Michael pleaded. The group of friends was playing around in a toy store. “Pay them yourselves, mate. I ain't your girlfriend”, Calum sassed with a grin. “Rose, can you ask your brother to stop being a jerk?”, Michael huffed. Rose snorted. “I gave up a long time ago”, she replied with a smirk playing on her lips. “Oh, nice one, Rosie”, Ashton laughed and raised his hands for a high-five.

“Guys, guys, remember our mission”, Luke reminded them. “Right, a game for tonight”, Ashton rubbed his hands eagerly. “Why can't we play something like strip poker?”, Mikey asked. “Because I'd kick all of your asses”, Calum responded. “Hey!”, Rose argued with a pout. “Except you, sis”, he winked.

“What about this?”, Ashton suggested with a grin. He held out an Ouija board to the others. “Hell yeah, I'm in!”, Calum said a little too enthusiastic. “Guys, I heard terrible stories about that game”, Rose backed down a bit. “Yeah, me too. Can't we pick something cooler?”, Michael asked. The thought about ghosts made a shiver run down his spine. He and Rose have watched way too much episodes of Supernatural.

Luke came up behind Rose and rested his hands on her waist. “You don't believe those movies, do you?”, he smirked and gave her hip a small squeeze. “Of course not but-” “Then it's settled. Right, Mikey?”, Ashton interrupted. “No, no, no, I'm with Rose on this. It's a bad idea”, he disagreed. “Come on, sweetheart, I'll protect you”, Luke whispered into her ear and gave her cheek a small kiss as he wrapped his arms fully around her waist.

“Guys, it will be fun. So Mikey, sis, are you guys in?”, Calum spoke up. “Fine”, Rose gave in to the boys' pleading. “I'm definitely not but I'm not leaving you idiots so, yeah, I'm in, I guess”, Michael replied with a sigh.

*****

Luke came over about an hour earlier so he and Rose could have some time alone before the guys would be there too. Calum was in his room so it wasn't like they could do certain things. The big brother wasn't very supportive of their relationship at the beginning but in the end, even he could see that they made each other happier than before.

Even though Calum's presence made sure they couldn't have sex, it didn't mean that they couldn't make out. Eventually, Luke and Rose ended up shirtless. They were cuddling in the large bed. Rose had her head on his chest, Luke's arm around her and their legs wrapped in black skinny jeans were tangled together. He was carelessly playing with her hair.

“Hey, babe, I was thinking-”, he started saying lazily so it created the perfect opportunity for Rose to interrupt. “Well that must have been hard on you”, she giggled. “That never gets old for you, does it?”, he smiled down at her. She looked up and shook her head whilst biting on her lower lip.

“So, I was thinking that we could go to the old building at the end of the street to play with the board”, he said, rubbing his thumb across the skin on her shoulder. “I don't know”, she sighed. “Come on, it could be a cool adventure”, he tried to convince her. “Unless we all get killed by an evil ghost”, Rose muttered. “Rosie, babe, you're not actually scared of ghosts, are you?”, he asked with a small smirk.

The girl was quite fed up with the teasing of ghosts. And especially her fear for them. “So what if I am? There are legitimate testimonials involving ghosts”, she replied. Luke was quiet for a second before he burst out into laughter. He shouldn't have. 

“Fine”, Rose sneered as she detached herself from her boyfriend and got out of bed. She grabbed one of Luke's spare, white shirts and put it on. She only did it for the sole reason that his smell comforted her, on the other hand she was really pissed with him. “Babe, why are you mad at me?”, he whined as he sat up. “Why? What if I find ghosts and the idea of ghosts simply terrifying but I don't want to seem like a pussy in front of my friends but when I tell my boyfriend the truth, he simply laughs at me”, she rambled with her arms crossed over her chest. In that moment, Luke felt like a complete jerk.

“Just go to Calum, please?”, she asked, averting her gaze to the ground as she opened the door of her bedroom. Luke nodded and put on his gray shirt. Whenever they had a fight, they needed to be away from each other, even if it was just for two minutes. “I'm sorry”, he muttered as he gave her a kiss on her forehead. He walked out, only to knock onto the door down the hall.

“Come in”, he heard Calum mumble from the other side. Luke walked in and plopped down next to his friend onto the bed. “So, you guys had a fight”, Calum raised an eyebrow, glancing from his game on fifa to Luke. “Just a small one. It's no big deal”, he muttered in reply. “Okay, no problem man. Just remember, break her heart and I'll break your arm”, Calum said. It started out as a joke but after three years he was actually quite serious about it. “Yeah, I know”, Luke mumbled, fumbling with the hem of his shirt.

About fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang, indicating their friends had finally arrived. Calum and Luke exited the room at the same time as Rose. Calum hurried downstairs while Luke walked up to Rose. “I'm really sorry, baby”, he spoke up, feeling guilty. Rose cupped his cheeks and pressed her lips against his. Luke lowered his hands to rest on her butt. “It's okay”, she whispered against his lips once she pulled away.

“Stop making out and show yourselves”, Ashton yelled from downstairs. Rose giggled and pressed her lips one more time against Luke's. The teenage boy whined at the loss of contact. “Stay at my place tomorrow. My parents are gone for the night”, he winked. “Yes, god, yes”, Rose faintly moaned. “That eager?”, Luke smirked, intertwining their fingers. “It has been three days. I'm addicted”, she smiled, squeezing his butt slightly. “Good”, he kissed her head and led her downstairs.

“Finally, guys!”, Michael laughed from his seat on the couch. He was already drinking a beer. “God, I wish Hayley would've stop our fights that fast. Then we would still be together”, Calum said. He admired his sis and his best friend for fixing their problems almost instantly. They were quite the team, even after all that time.

“Boys, tone the adoration down”, Rose smiled as she picked up a can of red vodka. It was sweet so she liked the drink a lot. She placed her ass right next to Michael who instantly threw an arm over her shoulders. She and the guys were like brothers. Except for Luke. And Calum since he biologically is her brother.


	2. Expedition

“So Luke had this awesome idea to go to the abandoned house down the street”, Ashton spoke up about the topic that Michael and Rose were dreading. “Party pooper”, Rose muttered, making Michael giggle. They all had enough drinks to be somewhat tipsy, maybe even near drunk. Luke shot her a grin. He was sitting back in one of the single couches with a beer lazily in his hand. “That would be fucking epic!”, Calum exclaimed, totally into the idea.

“Maybe we shouldn't”, Luke interfered, eyes locking with Rose. “Why not?”, Calum asked. “The house has been empty for years. The infrastructure will be ready to fall down any moment. And besides, we'd break the law. What if we get caught? Our parents will kill us”, he gave all sorts of arguments. This was going to give him lots of points with his lady. He shot a wink at Rose, not aware that Ashton would notice.

“Wait a minute. Luke, it was your idea. You don't have to back down because your girlfriend is scared”, he said, smirking at Rose. “That wink was meant for me”, Michael interfered. “Cause I'm scared to go to an old house in the middle of the night.” “You are a pussy, little sis”, Calum teased. “Am not”, she huffed. “I'll admit it if that means that we will stay here”, Michael suggested. “No! Let's have some fun”, Ashton argued.

“Fine, the pussies stay here. I say we go play our game”, Calum said eagerly. The excitement was running though his veins. “Who's with me?”, he exclaimed happily. “I got your back, Cal!”, Ashton shouted as he stood up. Ashton went to grab his plaid whilst Calum tried to convince Luke. “Luke, you have to come with us. This, right here, is an opportunity you have once in a life time. Go with us on this epic adventure, Hemmings”, Calum made a great speech. Luke laughed at Calum's ridiculous, almost drunken behavior but nodded. “And now there were three of us”, Ashton announced excited.

Luke put on his jacket and downed the last of his drink in one large gulp. “You coming, babe?”, he nodded his head to the door. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him without a word. “Don't do that. I'm just asking you to come with us, with me”, he raised his voice, feeling attacked. The little fights were somehow becoming more often.

Ashton threw an arm over his shoulder. “Calm down, cowboy. We're leaving”, he said as he pulled the taller one to the door. “Have fun being boring”, Calum joked. “Have fun with each other”, Luke grumbled. “Love youuu”, Ashton giggled as they left the house.

“I feel bad”, Rose spoke up after a couple of minutes. “Yeah, me too, I mean just a little. How could they be so dumb to leave the smartest at home?”, he replied with a sigh. “You better stop drinking, Clifford. You're acting delusional”, Rose giggled. “I'm drinking so I could follow you into that haunted place which could probably be the death of us”, he said a little too casual. 

“What?”, she exclaimed. “I know you too well, Rosemary. You want to go after Luke, am I right?”, he stated. She nodded with a sigh.“Fuck, we should leave so we can catch up before they go inside”, Rose groaned as she hurried to her room to get her leather jacket. When she came back down, Michael was ready at the front door.

“Hurry up, Missy”, he smirked. Rose smiled before they were running down the street.

*****

“Look who decided to join us”, Calum smiled at the running duo. Luke frowned and turned around to see a red head and a brunette (only half since her hair was partly dyed blonde) running towards them. “Better late than never”, Ashton smirked. He had the game in his hands.

“We changed our minds”, Rose said out of breath. “I'm happy you did, babe”, Luke smiled contently and placed a quick kiss on her lips. “Oh, does Mikey want a kiss as well?”, Calum pouted his lips before bursting out into laughter. “No but thanks for asking, 'babe'”, Michael said, mocking Luke with the 'babe'-thing.

“Let's move our asses”, Ashton suggested as he took the lead. “I want a piggyback ride”, Rose stated, batting her eyelashes at her boyfriend. “Fine, jump on”, he sighed as he lowered his back a bit, ready to catch his girlfriend. It wasn't like they hadn't done that before so it was quite easy now. Rose jumped and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thanks, honey”, she smiled and kissed his cheek. “Anytime, sweetheart”, Luke smiled.

“You guys are so cheesy”, Ashton groaned. “You don't have to handle them in your own house”, Calum mumbled in reply. “Hey, I can hear you”, Rose exclaimed. “We love you”, Ashton laughed.

“You bet you do”, Rose said, sticking out her tongue. “I love you more”, Luke pouted, looking over his shoulder to his girlfriend. “I know you do”, she giggled and kissed his lips.

The house was bigger than they remembered. “Come on, let's go around the back”, Calum said as he went around the house, Ashton following him swiftly. Michael groaned but he went next. Rose tightened her grip just a little for Luke to notice. “Babe, calm down. Nothing will happen. It's just a stupid game”, he reassured her. He gently set her down onto the ground. “Yeah, you're probably right”, she muttered as she followed the other guys who were a couple of meters ahead.

Luke wrapped his arms around her from behind so he was towering over her. “I won't let anything happen to you, you know that right?”, he lowered his voice. “Yeah, I know”, she sighed contently. “Because I love you, more than anything”, he whispered into her ear. A smile appeared on her lips. “I love you too.” Luke gave her a reassuring kiss on her cheek before he removed his arms so they could walk properly.

“Guys, the door is open”, Calum said enthusiastic. He and Ashton basically ran inside in anticipation. Michael hesitated at the doorstep. Luke threw an arm over his shoulder with a smile. “I'll protect my two girlfriends”, he joked and slapped Rose's butt when she walked past them. “Michael, it really isn't that bad”, Rose said from a little further. “Fine”, he grumbled as he walked inside, accompanied by his taller best friend.

Ashton was setting up the Ouija board whilst Calum and Rose were looking around with wide eyes. Everything was so big and old, yet the place almost felt enchanted. In the main room, probably the living room, there was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Even though it was covered in dust, it was still shining when Rose aimed her flashlight from her iPhone at it. There was a huge staircase at the end of the room that split up at the end. It seemed like there had been hanging several paintings on the wall but now they were all removed. But the room wasn't empty at all. It had a couple of covered-up couches and multiple clocks which all stood still on a fixed time.


	3. Encounter

Rose set one foot on the stairs when Ashton called them all back. “Are we doing this or what?”, he smirked, rubbing his hand eagerly together. He sat down in front of the board with crossed legs. “Hell yeah, let the game begin”, Calum smiled and sat down next to Ashton. 

“I really hate you guys now” Michael grumbled as he sat down opposite of Calum, next to Ashton. Luke sat down opposite of Ashton, pulling Rose next to him. They agreed they would use their right hand on the tablet so he rested his left hand on her hip. Rose instantly leaned into his warmth.

“Calum, I give you the honor to start our seance”, Ashton giggled. “Uh, right. Ghostie, ghostie, come out, come out, wherever you are”, he said, earning a glare from the group. “Fine, I hereby ask any ghost around to communicate with us”, he said on a much serious tone. Michael raised an eyebrow at him. “What? I watched a movie or two”, Cal shrugged.

“Is anyone there?”, he asked. Nothing. “All right, is anyone there? Communicate with us”, Calum tried again. Slowly but surely, the tablet moved to yes. Rose placed her left hand on Luke's and tangled their fingers together. He noticed her distressed face, wrapped his arm completely around her small frame and kissed her temple.

“Do you live here?”, he asked next. Again, the tablet moved to yes. “Are you one of the previous owners?”, Ashton asked curious. Yes. “Guys, do you remember Mr. Jones?”, Michael spoke up. The tablet moved to yes. “He hung himself”, Luke whispered. Once again, the tablet moved to yes.

“Are you here alone?”, Calum asked. The tablet moved to no. “Oh great, so who else is here?”, Michael asked sarcastic because he was slightly terrified. To their surprise the tablet moved to the letters. S-O-N-S. “Sons? His sons? How many sons do you have?”, Ashton asked. No-one knew that Mr. Jones had sons. The tablet went to the number three.

“Great, he's with his family. Let's leave this place”, Michael begged. The tablet went to no. “No? What do you mean no?”, Calum asked shocked. M-I-N-E. “W-What do you want from us?”, Ashton asked on his turn. This was going into the wrong direction. The tablet moved to D, then E, followed by A. The all let go of the tablet but it moved rapidly to T and then H. The tablet was thrown with its sharp point into the wall.

Michael stood up and stormed off. “I told you so, you idiots!”, he shouted as he went to the door where they came in. He pushed and pulled on the doorknob but it wouldn't budge. Ashton grabbed his arms and pulled him back. “Calm down, Mikey. We'll figure it out”, he said with a shaky voice. 

“Oh really? How? I don't have any reception on my phone and neither do you so what are we going to do?”, Michael lashed out. “Michael, please. Try to be calm, I promise we'll figure it out”, he said as he laid a hand on his shoulder.

Rose was staring down at the board with tears in her eyes. “Rosie, babe, I'm sure it's just a stupid prank”, Luke rubbed her arm in comfort. Calum visibly paled. “I don't think so. Ash and I were planning on pranking you guys but we decided not to do it. This shit is real”, he mumbled. Luke scoffed with a smile as he stood up. “Nice one, Cal. Better confess now or I'll have to beat your ass”, he said and he was quite serious about it. This joke wasn't funny.

“Calm down, Hemmings. I didn't do shit”, Calum sneered as he stood up as well. “Well someone did!”, he exclaimed and stalked his way to the others. He grabbed Ashton by his collar and pushed him against the wall. “Hey!”, Ash said surprised. “Stop this prank right now”, he ordered. “I swear, I have nothing to do with this. It's way too fucking real”, Ash defended himself.

“Luke, he's telling the truth. Let him go”, Michael sighed. “If it wasn't one of you guys then who's doing this shit?”, Luke asked angry. “The ghost”, Michael whispered. Luke laughed. “I refuse to believe that”, he stated and walked back to the main room.

Calum had Rose in his arms. He was whispering soothing things in her ear. Luke stormed right past them. “Where are you going?” Rose asked quietly as she pulled away from Calum's grip. “To find the bastard who's doing this. I won't let anyone scare my girl like that and let him get away with it”, he almost growled like an animal as he raced up the stairs. Rose's heart fluttered at his words. “Luke, don't be stupid”, Ashton sighed, running after him.

“I really think we should all stay together”, Michael muttered after a while. “Yeah, me too”, Calum agreed. In all the movies, whoever splits up, gets killed. Rose caught on what her brother was thinking. “Luke! Ashton! Wait up”, she yelled as she ran after them. “Shit, Rose. Wait for us”, Michael sighed. He and Calum sprinted along with her. The further they went, the darker it got. She held out her flashlight.

However, someone bumped into her from the side. She shrieked and held her heart when she heard the familiar giggle. “I'm sorry, Rosie. I dropped my phone, could you like shine onto the floor?”, he asked. “Ashton, where's Luke?”, Calum asked when he and Michael caught up. They were holding hands so they wouldn't lose each other. “He thought he saw someone run away so he went after the guy”, Ash shrugged as he picked up his phone from the dirty ground.

Rose's eyes widen. Before she could run away, someone grabbed her wrist. “Don't you think about it. We're staying together”, Michael stated. He wasn't going to let the girl run away all by herself. “Fine, but let's hurry up”, she sighed and led the group further down the dark.

After a while of calling out for Luke, they heard quiet moans coming from right up ahead. Rose let go of Mikey's hand and ran towards the noise she knew was coming from Luke. With her flashlight, she saw him laying on the floor with his head in his hands. Rose laid her phone down and helped Luke sit up. “You big fat idiot, if you ever do something like that again I'll personally kill you and-”, she rambled but was cut off by Luke's lips on hers.

“I'm sorry”, he muttered and winced when Rose's fingertips grazed his busted eyebrow. “What happened?”, Michael asked. They both turned their heads to see the rest of the group standing there. “I was following the guy who's doing this but it was dark and suddenly I ran into something hard. Fuck, my head hurts”, he groaned. His explanation made sense. He had run into the wall that ended the hallway.

“Can we please go back to the living room? We can talk there”, Ashton suggested. Everyone nodded and followed him back to where they came from.


	4. Terror

Most of them were sprawled out in the middle of the room with their heads in the middle. Speaking about heads, Luke had a massive bump on his forehead and there was a lot of dried up blood on his eyebrow that ran down to his cheek.

“What the hell are we going to do?”, Michael spoke up. “Nothing opens. Not the doors, the windows... We can't even break the glass”, Ashton remarked. “I think we should arm ourselves”, Calum said, thinking hard about their situation. “I just think we should get the fuck out of here. I don't care how, just fix it. Luke needs to go to a hospital”, Rose said with a bit of anger. She was the only one sitting up with Luke's head in her lap. She was softly stroking his hair.

“Hey,” he smiled, reaching up to stroke her arm, “I'm fine.” “I think you need stitches, mate”, Michael jumped in. “You could have a concussion”, Rose added. “Let's get out first and then we'll see”, he replied calmly.

“But to get back to what Calum said. Maybe he's right”, Michael said. “What do you mean? How do you even fight ghosts”, Ashton snorted. Michael sat up and locked eyes with Rose. “A certain show taught me a few tricks”, he smiled, earning a smile back from Rose. “Enough about Supernatural”, Calum groaned. He heard way too much and it all sounded crazy.

“But here we are. In a house with freaking ghosts!”, Rose argued, raising her voice. “That's not true”, Luke muttered but he didn't get any reaction from the others. “So we need salt and iron”, Michael continued. “I'll come with you”, Rose proposed. “Guys, we need to stay together”, Ashton interfered. “It's just the kitchen, Ash. We'll be fine”, Michael waved him away. Rose and Luke shared a quick kiss before they separated.

“How are you holding up?”, Michael asked when they were seperated from the others. “Honestly, I don't know how I'm not curling into a ball to cry my eyes out”, she sighed. They reached the kitchen and started opening several cabinets. “Yeah, same over here. I prefer the ghosts in the show though”, Michael tried to lighten the mood.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”, Rose asked softly, glancing from the cabinet to Michael. “Does it involve fire?”, he asked, biting his lip slightly. “Find the bones and burn them. Or find the cursed object”, Rose clarified. “I really hope it's a cursed object. I don't think I could mentally handle burning a dead corpse”, Michael said, almost gagging at the thought. “I would do it if it meant getting out of here”, Rose said determined.

“Oh I've never been so happy to find salt in the kitchen”, Michael spoke up, holding out one packet of salt containing one kilo. “We should check the fireplace for some iron poke sticks”, Rose said. The conversation felt way too normal. “I'm so glad Supernatural prepared me for this”, she laughed.

“Come on, let's head back to those idiots that brought us here”, Mikey smiled and went first with the three bags of salt in his arms. Suddenly, the door between the kitchen and the living room that was continually standing open, closed right behind him. The guys looked up at the noise. Michael dropped the bag and started pounding on the door. “Rose!”, he yelled, trying to unlock the door but it wasn't working. “No!”, Luke shouted and sprinted to the door, pounding along with Michael.

“Get me out of here”, she cried out. Calum and Ashton were looking around for another way in. “Watch out, Rose, we're going to break the door”, Luke shouted. “Someone's in here”, she cried with a whimper. She was standing right next to the door with her hands covering her eyes. She swore she could feel a hand stroking her neck but she was too shaken up to move.

“Luke, please”, she sobbed. “I'm coming, baby, I'm coming”, Luke promised. He was pounding his shoulder against the door. It slowly started to give in. The hand's grip tightened but disappeared completely when Luke stormed through the wooden door. He fell onto the ground with the door in pieces underneath him. Rose's knees buckled beneath her as she slumped to the ground.

Michael stood there with wide eyes and mouth slightly open. “Calum, Ash, we saved her”, he called out. Luke engulfed the sobbing girl into her arms. “Shhht, I'm here. I would never let you get hurt”, Luke whispered with a hoarse voice. He was close to crying. The thought that he could easily have lost his girlfriend right then and there, terrified him.

Ashton and Calum had come back immediately. “What the fuck happened?”, Calum asked. He was scared out of his wits, especially now his sister was targeted. Luke helped Rose onto her feet. She was still shaking and crying. Her hands were clinging onto her boyfriend. “We were walking back to you guys when the door closed between us”, Michael explained with a shaky voice.

“What's that on your neck?”, Ashton exclaimed accidentally, pointing at Rose's neck. “What? What is it? What's on my neck?”, Rose panicked. Luke took a closer look and grazed his fingers over the small red dots. Four on one side and one on the other, just like a hand print. 

“Did someone touch you?”, Luke asked worried. Her eyes widen, slowly nodding. “It was something, not someone”, she rasped out. Luke sighed. “Rosie, ghosts don't exist.” “The grip on my neck vanished when you came through the door. How do you explain that?”, she argued. “Shit”, Ashton said underneath his breath.

“Can we please stay in the living room?”, Calum spoke up. Everyone agreed so that's how they ended up divided in the big old room.


	5. Devastation

Michael was sitting on a couch covered in a plastic, Calum next to him. The teenager tried to lighten the mood by talking about completely random things but Michael barely responded so he ended up basically talking to himself.

Ashton was laying on his back right in the middle. He had closed his eyes, thinking he could wake up any moment. He tried to be okay for his friends but this was too much. Ghosts, freaking ghosts. For the sake of Michael and Rose, he had listened when they told him to cover every entrance with salt. For some reason, he really believed it could work. If they could only last until sunrise then everything would be okay, he thought.

Luke and Rose were resting against the wall. She had her head resting in the crook of his neck with her arms underneath his shirt around his waist. Luke had his arm over her shoulders and was resting his head against hers. They have almost lost each other twice now in the last hour. “Hey, Rose”, Luke whispered. She hummed in response. “I believe you”, he muttered. Rose sat up a little so she could look into his bright blue eyes. “This isn't some jerk trying to fool us”, he added with a frown.

“So that means we're in deep shit”, he breathed out. “As long as we stay together, nothing will happen”, Rose said low, rubbing her thumb over his exposed hip. This conversation was between the two of them. “But if something does happen, to you or to me, I just wanted you to know-”, he whispered but Rose cut him off. “I know. Believe me, I know”, she smiled slightly, leaning forward until their lips touched.

Normally, one of their friends would make gag sounds or scream something but it was dead silent, except for Calum's voice. The tension was extremely high.

Luke's hand reached down into his pocket. When Rose pulled away, he placed the little box in her hand. “Now you really know”, he smiled. Rose opened the box with shaking hands. Inside was a beautiful ring. It was a diamond but shaped into a small rose. It brought tears to her eyes.

The little box caught Michael's attention from the other side of the room. The ring explained a bunch. He nudged Calum's side with his elbow. “Dude, shut up and look”, he said quietly. Calum followed Mikey's gaze to his sister and best friend. Even Ashton noticed the commotion as he opened his eyes and turned his head from the guys to the couple. “I thought he was joking when he asked”, Calum mumbled, more to himself. “He asked you?”, Michael whispered. Calum nodded with open mouth.

“I had it all planned out for tomorrow”, Luke admitted. “What about Calum? And my parents?”, Rose choked out. Luke smiled. “I already asked permission. I know the drill”, he joked. “My dad?”, she raised her eyebrow. Luke grimaced. “Yeah that was really hard but after three years he should have seen it coming”, he smiled.

“God, Luke”, she cooed softly, looking adoringly into his eyes. “That's a yes, right?”, he smiled. “Why on earth would I say no?”, she smiled back. “Your dad said a bunch of stuff like we're too young, life is hard blabla”, he muttered. Rose planted her lips on his again while placing a hand on his cheek to deepen the kiss.

When Luke had placed the ring on her finger, all clocks in the house started to go off at the exact same time. “What the hell?”, Ashton muttered as he slowly sat up. “Guys, it's 19 past one”, Michael announced. “This is what I call wedding bells”, Calum said loud with a smirk. Rose shot him a glare.

The floor, the walls, the windows, it all started to shake, making a hell of a lot noise. “What the hell is happening?”, Ashton shouted. Everyone covered their ears as they stayed down. Panels of the ceiling started to fall down. The salt line was broken. Calum and Michael hid behind the couch, face down onto the ground. Luke and Rose were holed up against the wall, bodies as close as possible against each other. Luke was basically laying over the girl with his back and arms over her.

But Ashton... The infrastructure was collapsing onto him. A panel hit his head causing him to fall onto his knees. The chandelier was swaying around until the cable broke. The whole thing fell on top of him, the sharp end perforating his chest. He died in an instant.

The noise, the clocks, the moving, it all stopped as sudden as it had begun.

Everyone got out of their hiding place and stood up. A piercing scream escaped Rose's lips. She dropped onto her knees and began to sob. One of their best friends was laying dead underneath the broken chandelier. His eyes were luckily closed but everyone could see that his chest wasn't moving up and down. He was gone.

Michael turned around, took a few steps and emptied his stomach onto the floor. Calum was frozen as silent tears ran down his cheek. Luke was upset and angry and without thinking he made a hole into the wall with his fist. His knuckles started to bleed but it didn't ease the emotional pain.


	6. Dealing

They barely had time to register their pain as the lights, even though there were just a few, started to flicker. “We have to go”, Luke muttered. “We have to move”, he exclaimed, getting only Michael's attention. Micheal's eyes widen as he saw a shadow standing at the entrance of the kitchen. Luke noticed it as well. “Run!”, he yelled as he stormed to Rose and pulled her onto her feet by her arm. Michael grabbed Calum's wrist and ran through the first door he saw.

“No, no, no”, Rose cried out, reaching out to Ashton's dead body. She was struggling against Luke's grip. “We can't leave him like this!”, she shouted. “We have to!”, Luke shouted back. “Please, baby, please, come with me”, he begged, getting hold of her hand. She whispered a silent goodbye as she reluctantly followed Luke.

Luke closed the door behind them. Michael was standing right in front of the couple. Luke got a good look at the hall. It was way different like the house itself. The house was mostly made out of wood and dust and stuff. But this hall was completely covered with metal. Every single inch of it, even the multiple doors. There must have been at least twenty. Also, the hall was completely illuminated by small lamps every three meters.

“What the fuck is this?”, Luke mumbled. “I don't know if this was a good idea”, Mikey spoke up. The house was scary but this was just strange. “I'm not going back”, Calum said with a hoarse voice. He was extremely quiet. “We just left him there”, Rose sneered, tears rolling down her cheeks. Everyone went quiet.

“I wish I was still drunk”, Michael muttered. “Yeah”, Rose sighed with a shaky breath. “Me too.”

“We should move forward”, Michael rasped out after a minute of silence for their best friend they had to leave behind. Calum nodded, still shocked about the fact that he lost Ashton, his buddy for life. Everyone tried to cope.

So Michael took the lead, followed by a mute Calum. Rose went after her brother with Luke hot on her heels. The first five doors were all locked. “Guys, what if they're all locked?”, Michael spoke up. Everyone was thinking it. “We cross that bridge when we get there”, Luke answered, not wanting to think like that. One door has to be open. He wasn't going back. Rose rolled her eyes and groaned a little too loud.

They kept going from door to door, not having any success. Luke placed his hand on the small of Rose's back and started to walk next to her. “Hey, are you mad at me? I'm sorry. I had to pull you away. I couldn't leave you behind”, Luke whispered real quiet so the others wouldn't hear what he was saying.

“I know”, Rose sighed softly. “I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at our situation. I'm mad that our friend is dead”, she raised her voice. Calum let out a hiccup as his shoulders started to shake. 

“It's all our fault”, Luke muttered guilty. He had tears in his eyes. Calum stopped walking and clenched his hands into fist. Rose felt compassion for her brother and placed her hand on his shoulder, resting her head on it as well. “You didn't know. It's not anyone's fault”, she comforted him. “If you had just listened to us”, Michael said underneath his breath but everyone had caught it.

Luke went quiet and slid down the wall until his bum hit the floor. He silently began to cry in his hands. Their heads snapped to his shaking body. If there's one thing that Luke never does, this was it. Luke Hemmings rarely cries. In the three years that Rose and him have been together, she had only witnessed it two times. One, because his all-time favorite grandmother died and two, because they had an immense fight that almost resulted into their break-up.

_Flashback_

_“Luke, I don't know how long I can do this”, Rose admitted. They had been fighting all week, each day it got more and more intense. They would always try and mend the broken pieces by making love and today wasn't any different._

_“What are you talking about?”, Luke asked, sitting up and sliding his boxers up over his long legs. “You know what I'm talking about”, Rose sighed as she put on her bra. Luke rolled his eyes. “Every couple fights. It's no big deal, babe.”_

_Rose, now in bra and panties, got out of bed and sat down on the chair,, opposite of Luke. “Don't keep saying that”, she groaned, her fingers in her hair. “Then don't make a big deal out of it”, he groaned back. Rose scoffed. “So you consider this normal?”, she raised her voice. “Yeah!” The girl sighed and placed her hands over her eyes. “_

_And here we are fighting once again. We can't fix this with sex, Luke!”, she scolded as she noticed him leaning forward with this specific look in his eyes. Her eyes were shooting fire at him. “God, Rose, don't overreact over something stupid”, Luke almost shouted back but he managed to contain himself. “Me? Overreacting?”, she scoffed as she stood up. “God, I'm so sorry that I care about our relationship”, she said ironically with much drama._

_Luke rolled his eyes at her. “Babe, don't be ridiculous. I care but these little arguments mean nothing. You're making it way bigger than it actually is!”, Luke said, raising his voice to the end, also standing up. “You called me a bitch last night”, she sneered, throwing on her black top. He went a little far with that. “I told you! It just slipped! I said I was sorry!”_

_There was a knock on the door before Luke's mum peaked her head through it. “I'm so sorry to interrupt but dinner is ready. Rose, you can stay if you want to”, Liz said with a sympathetic smile. She had been hearing the two lovebirds fight all week. “Thanks, Liz but I'm going home”, Rose answered softly._

_What?”, Luke exclaimed with a frown. “Stay”, Luke said, almost making it sound like an order. “Well, whatever you decide, I'll see you two downstairs in a couple of minutes, all right”, Liz said calmly and quickly disappeared out of her son's bedroom. “_

_You said you would stay the night”, Luke frowned. “I'd rather go home”, she sneered back. She grabbed her skinny jeans and put them on with a small struggle. “You're overreacting”, Luke said underneath his breath. “I thought we were going to talk, not argue even more”, she raised her voice. “We're having a simple discussion! It's normal!”, he shouted. Luke became more and more frustrated._

_“You yelling at me, isn't normal! I hate it. Do you really think every couple fights like this?”, she put him on the spot. “Fuck yeah, I'm surprised we lasted this long without it”, Luke yelled back. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Well I can't handle it anymore!”, she cried out. It was like the whole house fell quiet._

_The tears fell from her eyes onto her cheek. Luke's face fell immediately. “Babe” he sighed, opening his arms a little. “No, don't 'babe' me. I've had enough, Luke”, she shakily breathed out. She took a step back as soon as Luke took one forward so there was a distance between them._

_“_ _Are you breaking up with me?”, he asked confused. “I don't know”, Rose whimpered in reply, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. Luke didn't know what to do. “But you love me”, he said with a crack in his voice._

_“I need some time to think”, she whispered after a minute of pure silence. “You told me you loved me”, he whispered back. His eyes became glossy with tears. “I do but what if it's not enough?”, Rose asked. Luke sat back down on the edge of his bed with his hands in his hair and his elbows resting on his knees._

_“I should go”, she stated on a soft tone. Rose grabbed her phone and keys and left Luke's room with another hit of tears streaming down her face. With blurry sight, she quickly descended the stairs. “Bye, Liz”, she called out with a sob. “Oh, good night, honey”, Liz said on a sad tone. She really thought they would pull through._

_Rose had just put on her shoes and was ready to leave when a hand was placed against the door to stop her from opening it. “Please don't leave me”, Luke's voice cracked. His eyes were red and a couple of tears were still lingering on his face. He was wearing a black pair of shorts with a black T-shirt._

_“Luke, you're crying”, she whispered, wiping his tears away with her hands. Luke was cupping her cheeks and also wiping away the tear tracks with his thumbs. “I care, Rosie, a lot. I love you so much, baby. Please don't go”, he begged with a hoarse voice. “Only if we just stop fighting”, she replied shakily. “I promise, I promise”_

_The emotional teenager pulled his girlfriend close by her waist and lowered his head into her neck. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and eventually he picked her up and carried her upstairs to his room. A proud Liz was standing in the kitchen, she had conserved the leftovers into the fridge for the young couple. Momma Hemmings was glad. She wished nothing more than her son to be happy and he was that when he was with Rose._

Calum sat down as well, knowing that they would never get out alive. He would never ask Vanessa out, he would never see his parents again, he would never watch his sister get married to his best friend. This wasn't supposed to end in an old, abandoned house. Never.

Michael's anger faded away the second he saw Luke cry. He considered him as his little brother. “Come on, mate. Pull it together. We still have to get out of here”, Michael said softly, hesitating when adding: “For Ash.”

“Mikey, I don't know. Maybe we should take another break, like emotionally”, Rose proposed. Seeing Luke cry, almost made her cry but for the sake of her friends she tried to keep it together. And Calum was out as well.

The red-haired boy nodded. He sat down next to Calum, nothing more, nothing less. His presence was already enough for Calum. Rose curled up against Luke. Her head was resting against his shoulder, her right arm under his so she could tangled their fingers together as her left hand rested on his lower arm. He was already calmed down but the guilt was eating at him.

Slowly but surely they all fell asleep, one by one.


	7. Nightmare

The room was dimly lit by a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. Michael woke up on the cold wooden floor. It was freezing. He was laying face-down, flat onto his stomach. “What the fuck?”, he moaned as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. He slowly sat up on hands and knees and took a good look at the room.

It was old, with spider webs hanging in every corner. There was no furniture, no wall decoration, nothing but the small lamp. The door had no knob. Most importantly, none of his friends were in there with him. He was all alone. “Fuck, I'm way too pretty to die”, he muttered to himself, trying to keep calm. “Hey, guys! Can anyone hear me?”, he called out as he stood up.

Quiet. Silence.

It was getting colder for Mikey. He rubbed his arm, trying to get some warmth. “Guys, can you hear me?”, he shouted again. He went to stand right underneath the light bulb which was providing some extra warmth. “Shit, let me out of here!”, Michael yelled, starting to panic.

*

The room was filled with mirrors. All the walls and the whole ceiling was covered in mirrors. There was one night lamp standing on the floor in one of the corners of the room. Rose woke up with a gasp and immediately sat up. She frantically looked around. No Luke, no brother, no best friend. She was all alone.

Death. It was all she could think of. She would be next and there was a slight chance that her friends were already gone.

The mirrors were frightening, especially with that one lamp. But the most scary part was that there was no door, only mirrors. Small, large, medium, decorated, painted mirrors. All kinds. Even when she was a kid, she was terrified of mirrors in the dark. At the age of four, she accidentally saw a fragment of a horror movie, involving Bloody Mary and mirrors. Her parents had noticed her a little too late, the damage of childhood terrors was already done.

Her petite body began to shake as she started to sob. Her knees were pulled up and her eyes were covered by her hands. “Help me, please!”, she cried out, over and over again.

*

The room was decorated with all sorts of clown accessorizes. Masks, shoes, pants, noses, wigs, red... The walls were painted red and every inch was covered with stuff related to clowns, everything you can ever imagine.

Little do you know, my dear reader, that Calum is absolutely terrified of clowns. Almost as much as Rose is afraid of mirrors in the dark. The teenager woke up in his side. The second he opened his eyes, he was met by a scary clown mask. He let out a shriek as he backed away. His back hit the wall, or better yet, another mask.

This room had several normal lights, illuminating every square of it. “What the fuck?”, he shouted out with a raspy voice. “Hey, let me go!”, he demanded. He charged at the door, starting to bang on it with his fists. “Rosie, where are you?”, he called out with a crack in his voice. Calum was close to crying. The only one who knew about his phobia was his dear sister. She would always get rid of the clowns he got as a present.

*

The room was covered with torture instruments. It went from axes and spears to guillotines. There were several light spots at random places, creating an uneasy feeling. There was a wall with all sorts of knives. But the scary part? They were all covered in blood.

Luke woke up against the wall. The light blinded him for a second but then he saw the horrifying scene displayed in front of him. This was sick. The teenager had to resist the urge to throw up right then and there. He stood up on shaky legs.

Getting out. That was his priority. Only then he could be able to save his friends, if they were even still alive. How scare the instruments were, it could be very useful to him. Luke freed the largest axe he could find. It was also the heaviest so it was difficult to swing it.

The door received one hit after the other and eventually it broke in half. Luke gave it one final kick and crawled through the hole. He entered the exact same hall as before except all the metal was gone. The material was replaced by simple wood. 

“This is impossible”, he muttered as if he had lost his mind. He felt as if he was ready to go to an asylum. There were screams coming from everywhere. Luke let the axe fall out of his hands and onto the ground. He was lucky not to have hit his foot with the dangerous tool. 

His hands covered his ears to block out the sound. It was quiet, for a minute. Still, he felt as if the screaming became louder. It was still ringing in his ears. His hands fell next to his sides and were balled into fists. “Shut up. Shut up!”, he yelled in despair. 

“Rose! Luke! Mikey! Help!” There was one scream that made him realize it wasn’t all in his head. It was undoubtedly the hoarse voice of Calum. “Cal? I can hear you! Where are you?”, Luke shouted back. “Luke! Get me out!”, Calum yelled at the top of his lungs. He was relieved to hear his best mate’s voice. 

There was banging four doors down the hall. Luke stormed towards the noise with the axe in his hands. “Calum?”, he asked. The banging stopped. “Luke, that god. Get me the fuck out of here”, Calum begged.   
“Stay away from the door”, Luke warned. He took a deep breath and raised the axe over and over again until there was barely anything left from the door. Calum stormed out of his horrifying room. 

“What the hell is happening?”, the brown-haired lad exclaimed. “I don’t know”, Luke sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He glanced inside the room Calum was previously held in. “Clowns? Really?” “T-They terrify me”, Calum admitted shyly.


End file.
